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Following a trip to Turkey, an international
delegation has deemed the country unfit to join the
EU. With regard to the Kurdish issue, it concluded
that the improvements were merely theoretical.
A report by the delegation of international lawyers
claims that the official representation of problems
such as the Kurdish issue are "largely euphemistic,
if not totally false". The report, to which DW-WORLD
has access, said that while Turkey has made many
attempts towards becoming a democratic state, there
is still a long way to go in putting reformed laws
into practice.
Turkish human rights activists stressed to the
delegation that "there has been no fundamental
change in the mentality and thinking in the Turkish
government and state apparatus." They said the
Turkish government has to develop a far-reaching
program for the political, socio-economic and
cultural equality for the Kurdish people.
"And as long as they are not willing to do so, there
can be no recommendation that they join the EU," the
report said. They called for the establishment of a
commission comprising NGOs from both Turkey and EU
nations to oversee reforms relating to human rights
in Turkey.
Continued suppression
The six-person delegation, comprising of
high-ranking German and South African lawyers,
traveled to Istanbul and Ankara in the middle of
January where they conducted numerous conversations
with human rights activists, representatives of
Turkey's ruling AKP party and members of parliament.
The lawyers stated that neither the government, the
military or other political parties show a
fundamental shift in thinking on the Kurdish issue,
and concluded that the official policy is still a
long way off recognising the Kurds as equals with
the same rights and freedoms.
Despite certain legal changes, the Kurdish language
is still widely repressed. There are no Kurdish
radio or TV stations and the two weekly half-hour
programs on state television, which are repeatedly
cited as progress on the Kurdish issue, amount to
nothing more than propaganda which has been
translated into Kurdish. "Nobody watches them," one
of the lawyers said. In addition, there is still a
law in effect which bans political parties from
using any language other than Turkish.
The lawyers have called on the EU to make the
Kurdish issue a central element of their
negotiations. The influence of the EU in accession
talks is the most effective factor for a peaceful
and politically correct solution to the issue.
Öclan in solitary confinement
During their trip, the lawyers also sought to gain
an impression of the conditions in which former
chairman of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK,
Abdullah Öclan, is being held captive on the island
of Imrali. In a ruling in March 2003, the European
Court of Justice for Human Rights deemed the trial
against Öclan unfair. The Turkish government,
however, launched an appeal, and a decision on the
issue is expected this spring.
In the eyes of the human rights activists, there has
been no change in Öclan's prison conditions. The
lawyers are involved as international observers in
the Öclan appeal case and were dissatisfied with the
Turkish Justice Minister's refusal to accept a visit
from the delegation for "reasons of security".
They claim that Öclan is in solitary confinement,
and that his relatives and lawyers are prevented
from visiting him. Isolation, they said, is white
torture and capable of breaking the personalities
and wills of political prisoners.
The report, which is due for publication later this
month, says that Öclan's case is a "indicator for
the credibility of the development of human rights
in Turkey". It concluded that Öclan's prison
conditions have to become a central point in EU
accession talks.
http://www.dw-world.de
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